Method, apparatus, and system for packet transmission

1. A method performed by a transmitting device, wherein the transmitting device is to transmit packets to a receiving device via a tunnel, and wherein the tunnel includes a first logical interface belonging to the transmitting device and a second logical interface belonging to the receiving device, the method comprising:

setting, by the transmitting device, a bit of a message to a predetermined value that enables the first logical interface of the tunnel to operate in a bridge mode;

transmitting the message from the transmitting device to the receiving device, wherein the message further includes a bidirectional tunnel identifier (ID) to identify the tunnel and an address of the transmitting device;

receiving a response from the receiving device, wherein the response includes the bidirectional tunnel ID of the tunnel and the address of the transmitting device, thereby establishing the tunnel as a bidirectional tunnel between the transmitting device and the receiving device;

encapsulating information in a tunnel packet; and

transmitting the tunnel packet to the receiving tunnel device through the first logical interface of the tunnel.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bidirectional tunnel ID is carried in a BIDIRECTIONAL_ATTRIBUTE object of the message.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the bit of the message is a mode bit indicating whether the first logical interface of the tunnel operates in a bridge mode or a route mode.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the first logical interface is carried in the message.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the encapsulated information comprises a layer-2 frame.

6. A method performed by a receiving device, the method comprising:

receiving a message from a transmitting device via a tunnel, wherein the message includes a bit having a predetermined value indicating that a first logical interface of the tunnel operates in a bridge mode, a bidirectional tunnel identifier (ID) identifying the tunnel, and an address of the transmitting device;

searching logical interfaces of local tunnels to determine whether one of the logical interfaces of the local tunnels specifies the same bidirectional tunnel ID and bridge mode as those in the message;

in response to a determination that a matched logical interface is found, transmitting a response to the transmitting device via the matched logical interface, wherein the response includes the bidirectional tunnel ID of the tunnel and the address of the transmitting device, thereby establishing the tunnel as a bidirectional tunnel between the transmitting device and the receiving device.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the matched logical interface specifies a destination Internet Protocol (IP) address, and the method further comprises:

determining whether the destination IP address of the matched logical interface matches the address of the transmitting device.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the message from the transmitting device is a Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) PATH message.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the response transmitted by the receiving device is RSVP RESV message.

10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

receiving, from the transmitting device, a layer-2 frame on the bidirectional tunnel; and

sending the layer-2 frame to a corresponding layer-2 protocol stack for processing.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the bidirectional tunnel ID is carried in a BIDIRECTIONAL_ATTRIBUTE object of the message.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the BIDIRECTIONAL_ATTRIBUTE object includes the bit indicating whether the first logical interface of the transmitting device is in a bridge mode or a route mode.

13. A system comprising:

a first device;

a second device; and

a tunnel having a first logical interface residing on the first device and a second logical interface residing on the second device,

wherein the first device is to set a bit of a message to a predetermined value that enables the first logical interface of the tunnel to operate in a bridge mode, and transmit the message to the second device, wherein the message further includes a bidirectional tunnel identifier (ID) of the tunnel and an address of the first device, and

wherein in response to receiving the message via the second logical interface of the tunnel, the second device is to transmit a response containing the bidirectional tunnel ID to the first device, thereby establishing the tunnel as a bidirectional tunnel between the first device and the second device.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein before transmitting the response, the second device is to

search logical interfaces of local tunnels to determine whether one of the logical interfaces of the local tunnels specifies the same bidirectional tunnel ID and bridge mode as those in the message,

in response to a determination that a matched logical interface is found, determine whether a destination address of the matched logical interface is the same as the address of the first device, and

in response to a determination that the destination address of the matched logical interface is the same as the address of the first device, utilize the matched logical interface as the second logical interface to transmit the response to the first device.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first device transmits a layer-2 frame on the bidirectional tunnel via the first logical interface, the second device receives the layer-2 from the bidirectional tunnel via the second logical interface, and the second device sends the layer-2 frame to a corresponding layer-2 protocol stack for processing.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the bidirectional tunnel ID is carried in a BIDIRECTIONAL_ATTRIBUTE object of the message.